1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vertical machining center which may machine a bar workpiece.
2. Description of the Related Art
An axis of a main spindle of a vertical machining center is directed in the vertical direction. A bar workpiece (i.e., a bar member or a bar work) having an axial dimension longer than a radial dimension is a kind of workpiece. A technology, in which a bar workpiece is fed by a bar feed device (a bar workpiece feeding device) to perform a turning by a turning tool and to perform a cutting by a rotating tool to the bar workpiece, is known in the vertical machining center.
Also, the U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,259 discloses a technology relating to a vertical machining center provided with a bar member feeding device (bar feed device).
This vertical machining center has a horizontal bar member feed device for arranging the bar workpiece in the horizontal direction. The bar member (bar workpiece) is fed to the vertical machining center by this bar member feed device. The bar member feed device is adapted to push and feed the bar member by a clamping unit, and is movable to a position at which the feed device does not interrupt a swinging motion of the bar member.
However, in the vertical machining center described in the above-described U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,259, it is necessary to provide the bar member feeding device which is movable and pushes the bar member. As a result, the overall structure of the device becomes complicated.
Also, because the bar member feeding device is provided separately from the vertical machining center and is arranged in the horizontal direction, the bar member feeding device is projected considerably in plan view outwardly from a body of the vertical machining center. For this reason, a space in plan view which is required to arrange the overall vertical machining center including the bar member feeding device is expanded.